Author's note: Jeeze, poor Alec's put up with a lot of flack from Max and Logan, wouldn't you think? Time to give the boy a chance to vent some shit...

I hope you enjoy. And remember folk, as much as fanfiction helps to keep the fandom alive, feedback helps to keep the fanfiction rolling! Would love to hear what you think of this fic. Constructive criticism welcome :)

She Asked For It - Chapter 3

by Sorrow

Max and Alec had managed to avoid each other all morning. Something Alec was profoundly grateful for – he had a contact at a bulk food warehouse willing to trade transgenic muscle power for enough grocery products to last a fortnight – not that Max knew exactly what the trade-off entailed. It was one of those situations where the less she knew, the better off Alec's limbs would be. Besides, the last thing he needed right now was her bleating in his face again about how sad and depressing and lonely her existence was without Loggie there to stroke her with his latex-gloved hands, or… whatever.

All preparations in place, Alec headed down a corridor to fetch the supply list when he was jolted to a halt by a hand grabbing his arm, and spun around to find himself face to face with the woman who was increasingly becoming the bane of his existence.

"Ow!" He yelped, wrenching his arm away and nursing it as if it were broken. "What's with the pinching!?"

"Fix it Alec!" Max's eyes were twin balls of black flame, as anger radiated off her in waves. "Fix. It. Now!"

Alec glanced about, then replied with wide-eyed innocence, "what, your bike?"

"Oww!" The resounding smack left him nursing both an arm and a head now, and he held up his arms in a defensive stance, ready to deflect any further blows. "Geezus woman, would ya stop hittin' on me!"

They both froze, each wearing twin expressions of horror at Alec's choice of words. To compound the problem, a certain meddlesome transhuman chose that moment to rock up beside them, chuckling with glee as he basked in the awkwardness before him. "Hello lovebirds." He chortled. "Think maybe you can save this foreplay til later? Privacy of a bedroom perhaps?"

"Uh, gross." Max blanched. Then, noticing Alec his dropped his guard, whacked him across the head again. "Dumbass!"

With Mole's words from the previous day repeating in his head, Alec turned a radiant smile on Max and wrapped an arm around her shoulders; tucking her close as he caught her hands in his own. "What can I say, Mole, she's insatiable!" Grimacing as she clawed her fingers into his palms, he added, "and a real firecat in the... Uh... Oof! So what can we do for you, Mole?"

The transhuman looked from one to the other, wide beam on his face as he laughed at the joke of the century before him. "Supply run in 10. Remember?"

"Mmm-hmm." Alec's reply came through clenched teeth now. Who knew Chinese burns could hurt so much?

Feeling he'd stirred the cauldron of unrest enough for one morning, Mole sauntered away, leaving Max to wrangle herself out of Alec's grasp and shove him backwards. "The hell was that in aid of?"

Alec shrugged and shot her a coy smile. "Seemed like the fun thing to do."

Glowering at his attempt to look cute, she snapped, "Why are you in my life Alec!"

"Because you won't leave me alone!" he hissed, rubbing his tender wrists and bleeding palms.

"I won't leave you? Are you high!" Completely inflamed, Max's voice began to gain momentum. "I can't get you away from me! You're in my face every day! Yappity yap with that annoying voice of yours! You're in my apartment... in my fridge... now you're even in my bed! Everywhere I go, you're always there! Yapping, yapping yapping... I can't get you out of my head!"

Max stopped, seething as she gathered herself for another tirade. Seeing an opportunity to further rile her up, Alec grinned wickedly and tugged her closer, lowering his voice to a silky smooth husk. "Well gee Max, if you'd told me you've been feeling this way..."

But Max was no longer paying attention. Instead, she continued to stare over his shoulder. Wide-eyed. Frozen. Realising turned his head and followed her gaze, knowing who was standing there even before laying eyes on him.

Realising she had tuned out, Alec turned his head and followed her gaze, knowing who was standing there even before laying eyes on him.

Logan.

The cyber-journalist had turned the corner with an armload of printouts in his hands, no doubt in the nick of time to catch the tail end of Max's rant.

Suddenly aware of Alec's hands around her waist, Max jumped backwards, pushing him back into the wall as she did so.

Ducking his head to school his expression, Logan resumed his approach, paperwork held out before him. Refusing to meet Max's eyes, he thrust the stack into Alec's hands and muttered to the air between them, "Mole sent me to give you these." Then with jaw clenched, he spun on his heels and strode away.

"Well." Alec paused to clear his throat, determined to ignore the broken expression on Max's face. For all that he inwardly thrived on the intensity of their arguments, her anger had offended him this time. Wasn't she always coming to him for help these days? Wasn't it her demand for help that landed them in this stupid mess in the first place?

"I'd say it's your turn to fix that one up. Sweetie."

Then he glanced down at the paperwork. Intel reports. Supply sheets. She could deal with it herself. For a change. Shoving it all against her limp unwilling hands, he let it slip to the floor around her, and brushed past.

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Alec walked into Command with the intention of pulling Logan to one side, and setting him straight. Of course, he half-hoped hoped the man could've just taken off back to Sandeman's old house to lick his wounds, thus saving him the effort of having to deal head on with the problem... But he was resolved to fix the mess he'd inadvertently turned into an even bigger mess. If he had to go another day without sex or peanut butter, or with Max snarling at him even worse than usual, he was likely gonna start pulling teeth.

To Alec's complete lack of surprise, Logan was back on the bridge with Dix and Luke, helping to salvage a surveillance camera that had been taken out by a vigilante beer bottle the night before.

Not that they can't take care of that themselves. Alec huffed to himself, knowing Logan's true reason for being there was so he could continue fawning over Max. Man can't take a hint, even when it's half naked and huggin' his ex.

Much as he wanted Logan to know the truth about the fake relationship, seeing the guy still in Terminal City and casting looks of longing around the room as he sought Max out, made Alec bristle in annoyance. Did Mr Eyes Only think he was so much better than him, that he'd brush aside the very fact he'd caught them in bed together and still hang around thinkin' he had a fat chance in hell?

"Got something small and furry caught in your throat there, Alec?"

The voice broke the X5 out of his reverie and he turned to find Mole standing at his shoulder, staring in the same direction as he; knowing gleam in his red-rimmed eyes.

"What?"

"Not sure if you're aware of it, Princess, but you're practically growling." The transhuman flicked his head towards the bridge. "Wonder-Legs up there not catching the drift, huh?"

"Somethin' like that." Alec muttered, rolling his shoulders in attempt to disperse his frustration. "Look, Mole, there's nothing going on between me and Max. It was all just a stupid ruse to try and push Logan away. Blame Max. Her dumb idea."

"Ya don't say." Mole face twitched into a reptilian smirk. "All just a game, huh?"

"What are you gettin' at?" Alec hissed, as he spotted Max entering the room; black rain clouds hanging over her head.

"Oh, nothin'. Nothin' at all." Slapping his shoulder with a chuckle, Mole sauntered away, leaving Alec alone in the middle of the room; a still-furious Max veering straight in his direction.

Knowing he had to get to that bridge and set Logan straight before the storm caught up and broke over him, Alec sprung up the steps; grabbing Logan by the arm and guiding him to one side. "Look man, I've gotta come clean."

Frowning like a disapproving parent when faced with an unruly child, Logan folded his arms across his chest and lifted an eyebrow. "What, you're gonna tell me you have a problem with monogamy and can't figure out how to tell Max? Cause I'm not sure I'm the right person to ask, Alec. I have more respect for her than that."

Counting to ten beneath his breath, Alec reigned in the urge to smack the smug from Logan's face. "There's nothing going on with me and Max."

The words had become surprisingly hard to force between his teeth. Much as he didn't want Logan believing him to be the bad guy stealin' his girlfriend from under his exo-legs, he found himself even more reluctant to let the human think he was better than him. That he was more capable than him. Still... It had to be done. "Max just let you believe it - she wanted to keep you safe."

"To keep me safe, huh?" Logan's eyes narrowed, skepticism still firmly in place. "And who's going to keep her safe from you?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Alec's hackles rose - or would, if he had any. "What the hell kinda guy do you think I am?"

"Really want me to answer that, Alec?" Logan dropped his voice. Not that it did much good when every person present had superhuman hearing. "I mean, asides from a dirt bag, a womaniser and a criminal, what more do you want me to say?"

The tension in the room was matched only by the absolute quiet. Aware that all eyes were trained on them, Alec took a deep breath and employed every Manticore-trained tactic he knew, to bring his anger under control. This was it. The culmination of months and months of pent up rivalry between himself and Logan. He knew it, Logan knew it, and now Max could take that information and do what she liked with it. He was done.

A movement from below caused him to glance behind him, and he saw Max now on the stairs, doe-eyes imploring him to back down. Behind her, fifteen more pairs of eyes waited for him to bring the human to his knees - teach him a lesson about challenging someone who was so clearly and unofficially their leader. He could lose the respect of his fellow transgenics, or he could lose the respect of a woman who'd never respected him in the first place. Wasn't a tough choice.

God, I'm whipped. Schooling his face back into an expression that implied life was a joke, he turned back to Logan and casually threw him some more suggestions. "Well, you forgot to mention I'm unreliable, untrustworthy, and unworthy in general... I'm a loser, a screw up... Oh, and it was only my selfish sense of self-preservation that kept me alive at Manticore for so long. Which, when you think about it, is probably a good thing, being that my self-preservation is what gets regular supplies into Terminal City."

Alec paused and sucked in a breath, realizing the resentment and anger that had been building a slow fire within him for far too long, was rapidly unleashing; and he was strangely unwilling to stop it. A hand took his arm and he pushed it away - shook it off harder when he realised it belonged to Max.

"Cause we all know, I wouldn't bother helping with supplies at all if it weren't for my own rumbling stomach. Right? Hell, I'd sell my comrades down the river in a heartbeat if I could profit from the sale. I take what I want and who I want, without thought to how it effects anyone else. And, I'm just the kind of jerk to take another man's girl." Turning to Max at last, he pinned her with a steel stare and added, "Isn't that right, Max?"

The words stopped tumbling from his mouth then, as he stared at Max, waiting for her to confirm or deny. She glanced from him to Logan, before dropping her gaze to the floor. Her eyes were full of shame, but her jaw still clenched against the admission. "I think you've said enough Alec."

"Yeah." He swallowed. Hard. Tried to choke down the bitter pill that had lodged itself within his throat. "I think I've said enough for us all."

And then he pushed past her, descended the stairs in a rush and strode from Command. He had a supply run to carry out. And somewhere in greater Seattle was a stiff drink, and a willing body. In that order.

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TBC...

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